Faculty Collaboration Database

Black raspberries demethylate Sfrp4, a WNT pathway antagonist, in rat esophageal squamous cell papilloma. Mol Carcinog 2016 Nov;55(11):1867-1875

Date

10/04/2016

Pubmed ID

27696538

DOI

10.1002/mc.22435

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-84947761792 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   17 Citations

Abstract

Aberrant methylation of DNA is a common event in the development of cancers, including squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the human esophagus. In the present study, we determined: (a) whether aberrant DNA methylation also occurs in the development of N-nitrosomethylbenzylamine (NMBA)-induced tumorigenesis in the rat esophagus, a model of human esophageal SCC; and (b) if so, whether dietary black raspberries (BRBs) are capable of preventing this aberrant DNA methylation. A diet containing 5% BRBs inhibited the development of NMBA-induced tumors in the rat esophagus. This inhibition was associated with reduced mRNA levels of the DNA methyltransferases, Dnmt1 and Dnmt3b, in both dysplastic lesions and in papillomas of the esophagus. In addition, promoter methylation of Sfrp4, a WNT pathway antagonist, was significantly reduced by the berry diet, and this was associated with decreased nuclear localization of β-CATENIN and reduced expression of c-MYC protein in NMBA-treated esophagi. Decreased promoter methylation of Sfrp4 correlated with decreased expression of Dmnt3b and, ultimately, with increased Sfrp4 mRNA expression. This suggests that epigenetic alterations in NMBA-induced rat esophageal tumorigenesis recapitulate epigenetic events in human esophageal SCC, and that BRBs could be useful in preventing the aberrant DNA methylation involved in the development of human esophageal SCC. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Author List

Huang YW, Gu F, Dombkowski A, Wang LS, Stoner GD

MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Animals
Carcinoma, Squamous Cell
DNA (Cytosine-5-)-Methyltransferase 1
DNA (Cytosine-5-)-Methyltransferases
DNA Methylation
Dimethylnitrosamine
Epigenesis, Genetic
Esophageal Neoplasms
Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic
Humans
Male
Plant Extracts
Proto-Oncogene Proteins
Rats
Rubus
Wnt Signaling Pathway